Sweet Nothings
by applecherry
Summary: Catching affections in little moments. 09-Master: The world is offered at your feet.
1. Warm, Special, Answers, Recollection

**For those who haven't read my announcement at the 17****th**** vignette, It went something like this: I removed all RP and HT vignettes here in **_Sweet Nothings_**. This will now be filled with only YA one-shots. I will repost the old YA chapters and continue in the future. As for RP, I will create a new fic, **_Sweet Nothings: Fire_**, and will repost the old RP vignettes from here, plus an update, then continue from there. Unfortunately for the HT vignettes, they'll stay stored in my hard drive for the meantime. FYI.**

Now that stuff is done, enjoy the YA goodies! :)

**01: **_**Warm**_  
Christmas is not always cold.

"Yoh?"

She found him at his usual place. He turned around at her voice, smiling, and tapped on the space beside him, inviting her. With a small hesitation, she complied.

A few peaceful moments later, he felt a weight against his shoulder. She was leaning on him, eyes closed. This is one of the few moments they share with all walls down.

He took a deep breath, savoring the smell of pine in the air and her comforting scent of apple and lavender as he snuggled her closer and made himself comfortable.

"I can already smell Christmas," he said with a grin.

"Mhm,"

"and the snow is falling harder every night. It's very pretty, though." His eyes were on her.

"Mhm,"

He shook his head lightly and closed his eyes as well, savoring the moment. "I guess it will be really cold around here."

"…Not really." She opened her eyes with a small smile, stealing a glance from the boy—man—who became her everything.

_It's not the weather that defines whether it's warm or chilly, it's your heart._

**02: **_**Special**_

A new year will always be what it is.

"Anna, come on!" Although gentle, he was practically dragging her.

"You do know very well that I hate crowds." She said pointedly to the mass of people in the yard for the countdown and fireworks display.

He grinned. "Who said we're joining them?"

So she allowed him to lead her. They were entering the forest as he spoke, "Last year, we spent New Year at the rooftop," he set an eye contact, "so I'm hoping to top that one this year."

They stopped in the middle. "Close your eyes." She stared. "Please." Still staring blankly. "Pretty please?" He pleaded with a pout. She knew fairly well this was getting nowhere so she decided to humor him. "Just for a minute."

He smiled. "A minute is more than enough."

He guided her carefully with his arms and body and resumed the walking. It was only a few moments after when she heard a ripple in water. Throughout the noises of the people and fireworks not too far, the water came very distinct in her ears.

"Can you promise not to be mad after this?" She knew that question very well.

"Yes, I promise." She could see his wide smile even with her eyes shut. With that question asked, she knew everything's going to be real better afterwards, as he had said.

After a few more steps, they stopped and he started the countdown.

"Three…"

"Two…"

"One…"

And his lips were on hers.

A breathtaking view welcomed her eyes. They were standing over the water in the middle of

the lake. The water reflected the fireworks in the sky. The noises became subtle through the canopy of trees. It was quite a sight especially with fireflies glowing around the area. He broke the silence, a grin at her. "Where would you like to celebrate next year?"

She just smiled.

_Special is where and what you are._

**03: **_**Answers**_  
Ask only when you are ready for them.

"Why?"

They were at the kitchen table, seated opposite to each other. She was writing down a grocery list and he was looking at the list as if it was the most interesting thing on the planet.

"Why what?"

He took a deep breath. "Why did you say yes?"

She looked at him like he was (really) the biggest idiot in the world and that look made him avoid her gaze at all cost.

After jotting down a little more on the small piece of paper, she put down the pen and simply answered, "Onsen. Easy life." _It's what everyone expects to hear._

Forelocks concealed his eyes. Disappointment wasn't the proper word.

Anna stood up and slid the paper in front of him. "Go over them carefully; be sure not to miss anything." With that, she walked off.

Slightly recovering, he stood and picked up the paper, only to find two pieces. One was the grocery list. He held it, reading all the way to the store. The other ended up being neatly folded in his pocket. After all, it was the answer to his million-dollar-question.

_I did expect an easy life, but you made it complicated. You made boundary line between us disappear._

**04: **_**Recollection**_  
Pain can also be worth remembering.

"Go and die."

Who would've thought a love story can start with those words? With her piercing eyes and sharp tongue, who could've known?

"Goodbye."

Isn't a farewell meant to end something? With her tear-stricken face as she stepped down the train, wasn't that supposed to be the bitter, tragic ending? How can their story of pain and loneliness bear fruit a satisfying ever after?

"You have always made me cry." They were together at the patio, overlooking the garden. "Back in Osorezan, during the Shaman Fight, at home, in the hospital," he continued, "but I guess I did you worse, didn't I?"

She just closed her eyes and relaxed deeper into him and let him envelop her. "Yes, you did."

She felt a weight over her head. She sighed. "But it was worth it." The pain of meeting, separation, acceptance, child-bearing; she would be lying if she said she had never, even once, had wished for the pain to disappear, for some things to have never happened.

He straightened up and she followed suit. But before he had let her go completely, he squeezed her tight to him and buried a kiss on her hair. "Of course it was!" It was still amusing to see this man in front of her grin widely and still look like an innocent child. His grin was followed by a careless sliding of a door and a noisy scurrying of tiny feet.

"'Tou-chan! 'Kaa-chan!" A four-year old Hana was rushing to his parents eagerly to proudly present what he did in school.

She smiled.

_Happiness becomes greater when you've suffered for it, ensuring you really deserve it._

**FIN**  
Review if you would. Constructive criticisms appreciated. Reasonable flames accepted.

**Written and first posted**: 2006-2009  
**Reposted**: 051812 . 1130h

I refuse to delete my old, less-than-stellar fics. They are marks, which say a lot from where I come from to where I am now.

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_**Sweet Nothings © applecherry™ December 2006**_


	2. Fitting, Faces

**05: **_**Fitting**_  
It's like you are specially made.

He could breathe again.

He must've been out for days after that exhausting event took place, floating in an unconscious gap. It was like everything was suspended and he was lost, trapped in that time and space, a crack in reality.

But to open his eyes and to see first that golden hair, that pale skin, the neat lids that cover those profound, sable orbs, those long lashes; to feel her warmth comforting him, proving life, it was more than enough to be thankful for.

He yearned for contact, so he let his hand reach to cup her face, his intention more for comfort than assurance. When he felt her lean towards his hand, her eyes fluttered open.

"Hey," she whispered with barest hint of her smile.

That was all it took for him to snap, to close the distance with his arm cradling her head, his other arm around her petite body, legs entangled. It was like taking a large gulp of air after drowning. He buried his face in her locks and closed his eyes, savoring every feel. It was salvation, she was his miracle.

He still can't help but be amazed by the fact that they fit each other so perfectly. The way her head fits the crook of his neck, how his fingers tread so smoothly along her hair, his limbs surround her frame so properly, or how at ease and normal it feels like to have their lower limbs interweave, toes romancing. Nothing in the world could be righter, more absolute, more natural than this.

"Everything worked out okay, didn't it?"

He was met with silence. Soon enough, he felt her snuggle closer, her nose tracing a line from his collar up his neck, her hand reaching for his for their fingers to intertwine. She closed her eyes. "Great time to wake up, Yoh."

It was a clear, quiet night. The moon shone with all its glory through the windowsill. He knew she was smiling. He grinned.

"Yeah."

_You always have a place you belong to; and that place is a wherever your person is__._

**06: **_**Faces**_  
How masks differ from them.

He just couldn't get it.

It was beyond logic. Even scholars wouldn't find an answer for this. It just doesn't make any sense!

The thirteen year old lad kicked a pebble and scratched the back of his head. He had heard many stories, her uncles were living evidences, hell, he had experienced it first hand! But if her mother really treats her father like Anna III does him, then why the hell didn't her father do anything about it? He was fairly sure his father was more than capable in terms of strength.

Oh hell no. Don't get started about that love thing. Yes, his mother can still be the demon that she was—is, but her soft side now existed and shown more often. This is because of motherhood; yes, he accepted that reasoning. But back then before he was conceived, his father had no tangible link that ties him to her, no responsibility whatsoever; both knew that the engagement was as good as a paper easily torn. Because she wasn't touched by motherhood back then, the soft side didn't exist at all. Right?

Hey, don't get him wrong. He loves his mother; both the demon and angel in her (even though he didn't mind if the demon decides to go for a long vacation). Still, now that he's in his father's former position (which he still vehemently denies), he just couldn't get it how he had been able to stand her.

Hana blushed as he saw his mother stroke his father's face lovingly as he lay on her lap under their big tree. He knew they had moments like this but, he still felt guilty; it's like he's invading their privacy he sees them having moments like that. It's not that they don't allow him to see them like that; for him, it was just a very intimate moment that he feels he's spying on.

Then he remembered what his father had said when he asked him about it. Yoh had a good laugh first before he faced his clueless and embarrassed son.

"The same reason why you're still putting up with _**your**_ Anna."

...

Silence.

"You'll get it soon enough," his father murmured with a sigh as he stood up to prepare dinner.

After the crickets sounded, a booming voice made the birds fly away. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?"

Yoh was still chuckling when he entered the kitchen.

"That wasn't very nice of you."

He grinned. "Our little Hana's grown up so fast if he's starting to think about these things already." She raised an eyebrow. "Or, it's just because he's surrounded by his idiotic uncles most of the time."

A chuckle escaped his lips as a small amused smile painted her face. He reached for a chair and rested his chin at the heel of his hand, his elbows at the table. "I think it would help him though if he knew what happened back in Osorezan."

She made a move towards the door and paused before totally leaving the room.

"Maybe, but it wouldn't help him with his Anna."

He pouted against the smile and replied to the emptiness of the kitchen, "Now who's being mean?"

_When you see different personalities of a single person, it's not necessarily that they wear masks; maybe they just face you differently at times._

**FIN**  
Review if you would. Constructive criticisms appreciated. Reasonable flames accepted.

**Written and first posted**: 2010  
**Reposted**: 051812 . 1130h

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_**Sweet Nothings © applecherry™ December 2006**_


	3. Weekends

**07: **_**Weekends**_  
What should be time well spent.

"Mama!"

No response.

"Mama, wake up!" He was really good at stage-whispering.

She cracked open an eye to see her little boy peering closely at her face. She let out a little groan. It was a Sunday, the only day everybody was allowed to sleep in. "What time is it?"

"Six," replied the little boy with a grin.

Seriously? She sighed. "What is it, Hana?" The boy made himself comfortable and squeezed himself beside her mother, lying outside the covers. "You gotta wake up, it's the first day of summer!"

"Hana, you do know it's Sunday, right?" Don't take her wrong, she would love to spend time with her son, it's just that the past week had been very hectic at the inn, and just last night there had been a big event which extended to the wee hours of the following morning which they had to wrap up.

"Yeah, but…" The boy snuggled closer, pouting and readying to sulk, before snapping his head up. "Then, I'll make breakfast while you and 'tou-chan sleep a bit more!"

Now he's making her feel worse. What kind of mother lets her seven-year-old son make breakfast for them? She hugged his small figure tightly and ruffled his blond hair. "How about I make breakfast and you stay here with your father? You're not sleeping enough these days, you might stop growing."

That hit a nerve.

He abruptly sat up and faced his mother. "I'm seven. I'm still growing!" His mother let out a small chuckle. He narrowed his eyes. "You're teasing me." He inched closer to her mother's face and placed his hands on either side of her cheeks. Then, he noticed. "And you're tired. _You're_ not sleeping enough." The dark circles under her eyes were faint, but it's there.

He sighed. He felt bad disturbing his parents and not letting them rest. He saw the adult business stuff they were doing and how much they have been working the past few days. Maybe he should just give up and let his parents sleep. Besides, summer still has a lot more days, there are still plenty of times.

He was about to get up when her mother caught both his hands, pulled him, twisting, that he was now between his mother and his father, who was apparently still asleep.

Tired or not, man, his mother was _strong_.

"Then how about you stay here with your father while I go wash up, then we make breakfast together. How's that sound?" As if he had any choice when his father's arms locked him in place.

She took his silence and pout as affirmation and rose, not before planting a kiss on her husband's lips and her son's forehead, then pinched his nose. "Good morning, Hana."

He blushed as his mother walked to the bathroom. He barged into his parent's room at an ungodly hour and made a ruckus with his unreasonable, childish demands without even a morning greeting, more so an apology. Really, he had better manners than that.

A low chuckle was heard and he felt his father's chin rub his head. "Don't worry about it, kiddo." He turned to his father's grinning face with his own scrunched-up face, biting his lower lip, fighting back the tears that threatened to fall.

Hana punched his father. Said father laughed. Really, they were spoiling him too much.

"So, how do you want to spend the first day of summer?"

_Moments aren't made up of time. It's about how and who we have it with._

**FIN**

Review if you would. Constructive criticisms appreciated. Reasonable flames accepted.

**Posted**: 033112 . 1300h

I missed writing. I really did. And I'm graduating college! I wonder what does that mean.

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_**Sweet Nothings © applecherry™ December 2006**_


	4. Anchor

**08: **_**Anchor**_  
We can be saved from nothing; just saved.

She stirred.

Sleep interrupted, she surveyed the surroundings with half-lidded eyes.

Darkness. No sign of the sun, yet.

But in her arms was the light. His face buried in her neck, an arm around her hips, tucking her in place, her arm over his. The contact, a reassurance that the other was there; for whom, maybe for either, maybe for both.

She looked down and traced his face with slender fingers like feather over skin. His forehead, free of crease, his relaxed brows, his strong jaw line, down to the paths on his neck. She spread her fingers, pausing, feeling the beat against her palm, another reassurance that he's there, alive and well, before going down her shoulders and settling back against the well-defined muscles of his arm.

He's here, with her. No matter what time her sleep is interrupted, or when nightmares creep in, or even when darkness surrounds and everything fades, she's strong and firm that he's always with her, there for her; that he is hers to keep and cherish, like she is his. Her companion, her friend, her husband, the father of her child, the one she'll spend eternity with. Her Yoh.

Her lips flutter against the skin on his temple with a whisper of promise, of declaration, her voice as soft as her touch, "I love you."

A deep breath against the burrow her neck, taking her in, the arm around her hips tightening, holding her closer. His lips trail down her slender neck to the middle of her clavicle where he stops and presses a soft lingering kiss. He raises his head, their eyes burning each other even through half lids, "as I love you." He offers a warm, sleepy smile.

He pressed their foreheads together, noses in caress, as he took her mouth. A gentle, loving lifeline given to each other.

A little readjustment and they were back in their earlier arrangement, his hold on her tighter. He knew she needed this more than he did. Lord knows how many times he made her suffer the agony of the thought that he may be gone forever. But then again, their whole life, they have been dancing on the line between life and death, and he is very well aware how easy he could lose his family in a snap. So maybe, just maybe, this is for her as it is for him. And they fall back in the embrace of sleep, without nightmares, with darkness leashed on the outside.

_It is not with a danger of a brush with death, but a breath of life, that is needed to have a lifeline._

**FIN**  
Review if you would. Constructive criticisms appreciated. Reasonable flames accepted.

**Posted**: 051612 . 1345h

I've been in Japan for the last three weeks, work starts next week, and everything has just been wonderful. So here's to celebrate (and mourn because I probably will be busy again).

Btw, I'll be taking down the RP and HT chapters here. It'll be now strictly YA. I'll post a new one, _Sweet Nothings: Fire_, where I will transfer all RP vignettes from here, then add a new one, and continue later on. As for the HT, they'll be staying in my hard drive for the meantime. I will be doing this by the end of this week or the next. Just so you people know.

**EDIT** _**(18May)**_: I took the RP and HT down already. Hope it doesn't give much confusion.

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_**Sweet Nothings © applecherry™ December 2006**_


	5. Master

**09: **_**Master  
**_The world is offered at your feet.

She was his master and he was her slave.

That was how the world sees them then; even now after everything, even after he achieved the title of a royalty. With the ruthless training she creates for him and the way he receives and accepts every command, the label master and slave are easily identified.

It happens. He really does offer the world at her feet. Without complaints, without hesitations, he does. She does not hesitate with her commands either; not with his silent agony, not with the frowning of everybody against her. So they continue like this.

It seems wrong in every sense of the word to say that he is her master. To say that she is his slave is beyond imagination. But it applies.

It's not that he is the master of her universe. That is too cheesy, even for them. She does not offer the world at his feet either. He never gave her any command, and she has nothing to acquiesce to. But it applies.

Because the world means nothing to her and he does not need to ask anything of her. Because he is her everything, and she cannot offer him to himself, so she gives herself instead. He had no need to ask for anything else because she already gave him his everything

So it applies. To the both of them.

_They are each other's master and they are each other's world._

That is enough.

**FIN**  
Review if you would. Constructive criticisms appreciated. Reasonable flames accepted.

**Posted**: 082912 . 2028h

If you're a fan of RenPiri, check out _**Sweet Nothings: Fire**_. I updated one there too!

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_**Sweet Nothings © applecherry™ December 2006**_


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